I’m not really a super huge football fan, but I do follow the Premier League and play futsal every week. For most people around here, MU is their team, and for the rest of us who does not harbor a super liking to MU, we often support a competitor, and in my case, it is Chelsea!
Yes, Chelsea supporters are often seen as bandwagon jumpers during Mourino days when they won a couple championships, but I’ve been a closet fan since the days of Zola when I first heard the song “chelsea chelsea!”, so sue me.
I’m sure there are many who loves Chelsea and manage to looked over their supposedly superior bank account (that title goes to Manchester City anyway), and their brand of football that is not often the most fluid, they play to win and usually don’t get much help from officials (unlike.. MU of course) 
There is however, another football team that I support above all teams in the world, and that is our Yellow and Black team Tiger! The Malaysian team of course! The team that managed to win the Tiger Cup just very recently (how appropriate!).
This coming July 21st 2011 our boys will go against Chelsea at National Stadium Bukit Jalil (I went to their 2008 tour and it was awesome), and you too can be at this match by joining Celcom’s Channel X WHO WILL WIN Challenge. You stand a chance to win Autographed jersey and FREE tickets to the match, and here are the different ways to win:
Last Thursday evening I stopped by Bangsar Shopping Centre right after work to attend the launch of ESPN Castrol Football Crazy’s Longest Pass launch.
At the launch was none other than the former England international and Liverpool legend himself, Steve McMahon, with hosts Adam C and Patricia K.
launching of ESPN Castrol’s Football Crazy longest pass
Castrol Football Crazy’s Longest Pass is an attempt to unite football fans across Asia by stringing up a never ending football pass on video. Steve kicks off the launch here by doing his pass, and you can be a part of this too. (I did, in fact, check out the video below)
Do keep in mind to have the video under 20 seconds though, and if you don’t have any fancy moves, keep it simple, like I did in the video (and not like the other 2 professional football tricksters)
a photo with the Liverpool legend Steve McMahon
I had my Malaysia jersey handy during the event as I had my regular futsal game later at the same night anyway.
I always thought Steve McMahon is this really serious lad but he turned out, as people who knows him says, a teddy bear. Very friendly and approachable guy for sure. I of course, didn’t leave without having a photo op with the legend.
Joshua & I have a chat with Steve McMahon
After the official launch we even had a chance to have a chat with Steve himself, with regards to the current football scene in BPL, Champion’s league, and we even touched on the local scene.
The professional pundit and I both agreed that it’ll be a touch match for MU against Barca, while Joshua is already worried if the referees might favor the Spanish giants.. we shall see!
ex Liverpool vs the current hardcore MU supporter
Look at the photo above, Joshua was actually wearing an MU t-shirt, and Steve is totally cool with that despite himself being from Liverpool, MU’s arch-rival. I kinda wished that Steve would give him more of a hard time, hehe.
Adam C, one of the hosts of Football Crazy
I’ve taken my video, and now it is your turn too, do it and you’ll be able to get on TV and show off your talent (up to 20 seconds anyway. hehehe), it is that simple.
Find out more at Castrol Football Crazy Facebook page, in the mean time, get that video recorder ready!
Most living rooms in Malaysia has a pretty similar set up. Here’s what’s front of my living room couch.
A pretty decent 40″ LCD TV, a PS3 we recently accidentally bought just cos they launched Grand Tourismo 5, a Wii that has served us well with many hours of Guitar Hero action, and an Astro B.yond box.
To be honest, I don’t watch a lot of TV. I have the Astro account mainly for sports and those learning/documentary channels (with occasional news.)
Minnesota Vikings, running back Adrian Peterson
The reason I don’t watch much TV is because I have a problem. A timing problem.
You see, some of my favorite sports shows on TV are played on the other side of the planet – USA.
The number one sports for me is NFL, check out the photo above with Minnesota Viking’s Adrian Peterson breaking a tackle. It is the ultimate team sports, with complex rules and crazy strategies and very different scoring system compared to other sports.
Astro usually plays the Monday Night game, which inconveniently also means that it falls on Tuesday morning in Malaysia, just the time I’m having coffee in front of the PC at office. I ended up missing a lot of games, and only watched one live Monday Night game with Vikings this season. I was on leave.
Live sports is all good, but sometimes I want to take away the “Live” part of it.
Man vs Wild – Bear Grylls
I’m also a Discovery Channel junkie, and one of my favorite shows has gotta be Man vs Wild. The photo above is Bear Grylls eating sashimi zebra (I probably won’t recommend you trying it). Each episod, this dude dropped at some god forsaken remote place, and his task is to get to civilization. He’s got a bottle of water, fire stone, knife, and whatever he’s wearing.
A show about survival skill, and loads of very interesting things this guy came up with to stay alive and get out of some pretty daunting situations. One episod he’s dropped in the middle of a dessert, another he’s at some jungle in Amazon, or some place in Iceland. Amazing stuff, watch it!
The problem is, the show is aired on 8:05 every Wednesday. That collides with dinner time…
I want to watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it. Take charge of my own TV, which is why I got myself the Astro PVR.
The good news is, you can have it too!
Astro is giving 10 reviewers one whole year’s worth of subscription for recording service and the Astro B.yond PVR set. Furthermore, the grand price winner gets a 3 day 2 night luxury trip for two to Sutera Habour at Kota Kinabalu. (I’ve been to the lobby of that resort and it was beaauuuutiful!)
To participate, the chosen bloggers just have to do the following
Of course, you also need an Astro account at home to qualify.
Judging is based on creativity, effort (number of posts/updates), and level of engagement (get your friends to comment!).
Sounds like a plan to me, what about you?
p/s: follow @astroonline on twitter and check out facebook.com/Astro too.
There used to be two options to watch World Cup (or indeed any football matches)
Now there’s a 3rd option – watch it online on Astro B.player at www.astro.com.my/bplayer!
Astro B.player webpage, showing current and upcoming games
To access Astro B.player, simply go to www.astro.com.my/bplayer and register. General public gets to stream 38 World Cup games, and if you’re a Maxis user or an Astro Sports package subscriber can watch all 64 matches online live plus match highlights and replays.
The registration process only takes a few minutes. FAQ can be found here.
Japan vs Paraguay on Astro B.player
Though I am a subscriber of Astro B.yond service (with a new 40″ FHD LCD TV that I recently bought), I decided to try the service for the Japan vs Paraguay in the round of 16 matches.
While not exactly full HD quality like you’d get on the TV, the streaming is surprisingly smooth and the audio pretty much indistinguishable from regular feeds.
Highlights and instant replay on Save/Misses
What I also like about Astro B.player is the extra feature they added on the site. You can view highlights, goals, saves/misses, and even check on which players are on cards. This is a feature that you can’t get on the TV as yet. Pretty nifty.
All the more miserable for me as Japan painfully exit the tournament by losing 5-4 to Paraguay in the penalties. Poor Komano missed the only penalty, but the Japs did put up a good fight. All Asian teams are out now, 4 more years I guess.
There’s also a contest in conjunction with the launch of Astro B.player. The mechanic is simple:
The full mechanics are here, and the prizes include 4 laptops, one 42″ LCD TV, and plenty of movie tickets! Check it out on www.astro.com.my/bplayercontest
It’s been a while since I last went on an island trip here in Malaysia (the last one was Redang in 2005!),there is a chance that can be changed pretty soon, but I will need your help! I need two guys with good hand-eye coordination skills who can work their desktop rodent in a quick and coordinated manner to be my teammates in the Heineken UEFA Champions League flash games.
For those who think of football as 22 men running around on a field, UEFA Champions League is pretty much the most prestigious club football competition in the world with top clubs from various European leagues participating in it. Past champions include MU, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and even underdogs like Porto. Last year’s final had two English clubs, Chelsea and MU pitted against each other, and I’m hoping for another strong English showing this year too.
Lest I digress, lets get on the program..
notice that “win 3 tickets” box?
For winning the games, the team of trio will get three tickets to watch the UEFA Champions League final at an “exotic tropical island”. Now I too have no idea which tropical island is the event going to be held, but that is part of the excitement isn’t it? I am pretty sure there should be plenty of proper drinks to go with the event too.
my beer truck navigation prowess
There are actually not one but three games to be played, and this requires team work with each player responsible for a different game. Team leader plays the Beer Delivery, and nominate 2 teammates to complete the Mexican Wave and Beer Slide games. Shortest combined time to complete all 3 games win! Doesn’t sound too difficult, right?
now I need you guys to continue 2nd and 3rd!
I’ve tried the first game and did a pretty decent 42-43 seconds. Now I need some teammates to complete the other two games, any takers? I’ll select the first 2 person who leaves their email address on the comment box. We can then coordinate a bit online for the games.
As for now, I’m going to practice a bit more to reduce that score too! Lets do this and get ourselves the prize already! Check out the site!
